The chief of the Nirvani Akhara in Uttar Pradesh’s Ayodhya city on Thursday sent a legal notice to the Ministry of Home Affairs, alleging irregularities in the formation of Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, The Indian Express reported.
Nirvani Akhara’s chief Mahant Dharam Das said the existing trust was “illegal, arbitrary” and against the Supreme Court’s order. Das threatened to take legal recourse if the Narendra Modi government failed to form and regulate the trust as per the Supreme Court’s judgement “within two months of receipt of the notice”.
On November 9 last year, the Supreme Court’s five-judge Constitution bench had asked the Centre to set up a trust within three months to oversee the construction of a Ram temple at the site in Ayodhya where the Babri Masjid stood till 1992. The court had said that Muslims should be given a five-acre plot elsewhere in Ayodhya for the construction of a new mosque as relief for the “unlawful destruction” of the Babri Masjid. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced the formation of the 15-member autonomous trust in Parliament on February 5.
In his legal notice, Das called the trust “illegal” because of “non-compliance of legal, statutory and customary procedures of law on several different points”.
He also told reporters that the trust has turned into a mere centre of business, according to News18. “The trust should have been built in Ayodhya,” Das said. “Since the property belongs to God, it should be named as a member of the trust. However, in the absence of this, donations received has not been disclosed, including the amount deposited by people for temple fund before and after the formation of the trust. About 8-10 crore rupees does not show up by the trust. These people have turned it into a gimmick for the sake of running a business in the name of the trust.”
Das said those involved in the litigation of the title suit cases since 1949 were not given due consideration in the formation of the trust. This, he claimed, showed that the people who have political connect with the government were given key roles.
The head of Nirvani Akhara accused the home ministry of “dividing Hindus” by making a Scheduled Caste member an all-time trustee, claiming it seemed to achieve a political agenda.
“Donations are being sought in 11 lakh villages,” Das said. “Who has given orders to collect money from people in the name of Lord Ram? Ram ji has so much property that a temple as big as he wants will be built. There is already so much offering coming in, then why are you making Ram ji a beggar? You are begging in the name of Ram from society.”
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